Lviv’s Inaugural Sumo Cup

Lviv’s Halychyna Sport Complex was the site of Lviv’s first-ever Sumo Open Cup on November 19th. Sumo is Japan’s national sport and is a traditional style of wrestling that originated out of a competition to entertain Japanese noblemen. Organised jointly by the Lviv Sumo Federation and the ‘Evolution of Society’ charity, Western Ukraine’s only sumo tournament attracted athletes from all over Ukraine and as far away as Poland and Azerbaijan. Men and women competed in an open weight division, making for some entertaining bouts between fighters of radically different sizes. The tournament’s highlight came when Poltava’s Mariya Drboyan upset Kyiv region’s world champion Ivanna Berezovska.